A Frog Came To My Door

Now that I raise chickens, I wear a pair of old green crocs to walk around the yard. Do I really need to say why I don't wear good shoes in the lawn? Anyway, the other day I went to put my outside shoes on. I keep them by the front door so I can step right into them. As I put on my ugly green shoe my toe nudged something that at first glance looked like a leaf but didn't feel like a leaf. It didn't look like a walnut either even though there was a walnut right next to it. Closer inspection revealed a big old frog at my front door. That bristly thing at the top of the picture is one of those shoe cleaning devices. The frog stayed while I went inside to get the camera but he or she hid the face in a leaf. I looked it up and this is a wood frog. It has a dark patch over the eyes and two big ridges down it's back. Wood frogs make a sound similar to the quacking of a duck. They breed in water even before the ice is gone. In winter they stay in forests under fallen leaves. They are well adapted for cold weather. Wood frogs are the only frogs in the Arctic Circle. Brrr! In the winter they stop breathing and their heart stops beating. Ice crystals form in their bodies. Wood frogs produce a special antifreeze to keep the ice crystals outside of their cells. Even their fertilized eggs are not damaged by the cold. The next time I complain about the cold weather, I should stop and consider - at least I'm not as cold as a wood frog.